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Worse software?

Aug. 19, 2004? This week's list of the worst software disasters should be more controversial than any "best of" list, since a lot of software is bad.

But not all bad software is significantly bad. There are also situations where software is just bad for a minute, then quickly fixed. In other situations the software isn't really bad, it's just that people hated it.

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there are still a number of old W95 programs that I still use faithfully even on my XP system, such as Peek which lets you read hex and other files in standard text (great troubleshooter at times)with a simple right click option.

And although people now take Quick Launch for granted, it was first offered up as an add-in to IE 4.21 (done away with when IE5.0 came out)and brought back with IE5.5. I was instantly in love with QuickLaunch and if it goes away with the next version of Windows, I will refuse to upgrade. I used to deliberately install IE4.21 from old AOL cd's in order to have it back after a format and then upgrade to IE5 which left it intact if it was already there, that's how sold on it I've been from the start.

There is still a free toolbar available with your windows desktop that nobody remembers much either, but XP still has it active without any fanfare. I was really surprised to see it still there, and it gives you immediate access to all of the drives on your system, in addition to being able to add to it. Great stuff. Left mouse, drag the My Computer icon all the way to the left and let it go..........TADA.

I also hated First Aid....I never bought it, but a neighbor did and let me install it on my system to try it out. It was gone in about a half hour as a total waste that caused more problems than it solved...much like Norton's PCDoctor.

One software item I've really missed alot actually came via CNET....their update center. It was free, would scan your whole computer and give you automatic links to updates to all of your programs and hardware if they were available. Sure beat the hell out of searching for updates on your own, and I would have gladly paid a fee to have it back if I had to.

Last but not least, PCMag's writers were always coming up with free tools and utilities that were out of this world must-haves. The one I used constantly was one called The Ferret Suite. Steven wrote it (and I've written to him begging to get them updated and back out there, but he's said they weren't worth the effort....he should only know how worthwhile they were to lots of people). The only one of the four programs available now is Web Ferret, but the two I used most frequently were Email Ferret (it would search the whole net for any email address of the person you named in the dialog box, and it was great for contacting old friends that you lost touch with and didn't know where they moved to) and the other was File Ferret. It was extremely small window with a space to type in a file name, search the whole net for it, locate multiple download sites to choose from and show you the choices, and then download it immediately. Wayyyyyy cool and better than GoZilla or any of the others that came later. It even supported 'resume'. It was so far ahead of its time and such a small footprint. Only worked with IE up to version 5.0 and needed to be upgraded for IE6 and never was. It would install perfectly, but it wouldn't run anymore.....I'm crying just thinking about how much I miss it. LOL

I'm sorry but I can't tell if it's shareware or freeware, since some of the download links won't show on the Mac since it's for PC, but I suspect it's freeware. If it does the same thing as Version Tracker Pro does for the Mac now. Just beware of it showing as necessary, the trial releases of certain software. I just got notified today that I have another 24 hours to pay $129, discounted from $199 for one of the OCR programs that was listed as "necessary" on a scan of my system by Version Tracker. I don't think so. . . Hopefully Oil Change won't do that for PCs at least.

BTW, for anyone wondering about the new firewall in XP2, it is supposed to be RAV, which I found to be absolutely fabulous (opinion of Cetin too, if you ask him). It caught more bad stuff than any other firewall program out there that I've tried, so I'd highly recommend it. It was very annoying when M$ bought them out, but it was an excellent choice on their part.

CNET had their own update center and it was free. I used Oil Change long ago on a trial basis and wasn't nearly as impressed with it as I was with the results from CNET itself. When it was shut down, it was supposed to be only temporary, but then the buyout of ZDNET took place and it never came back. Still hoping that 'one day'.....